1. BFE centers around the experiences of Panny when she is fourteen years old in the American southwest, most likely Arizona (desert, snakes, UFO imagery). It takes place in the late 1990s, during Panny’s freshman year. BFE includes the experiences of Panny’s mom Isabel, her uncle Lefty, Nancy, Hugo, and The Man. Each interacts with Panny as she struggles with her physical identity and ideas of attractiveness. The dramatic situation is set around recent kidnappings where popular, blonde young girls have been found murdered. Panny finds herself confronted with this reality at the end while grappling with ideas of “beauty” for Asian-American girls.
2. The intrustion would be Isabel suggesting Panny that she get plastic surgery, which is what drives her to be insecure and what eventually leads her to Hugo. Hugo only connects with Panny when she gives a monologue about feeling “truly beautiful” despite what the world is telling her, and that is why he starts to care for her. Her failed meeting with Hugo ultimately is the reason why Panny is taken by The Man, who marks her as “ugly”.
3. This is the day that Panny decides to tell us what actually happened to her a month ago, when she was “taken” to the desert.
4. State the dramatic question or questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
How does Panny view herself now? Will these psychological scars shape her into adulthood or can they be overcome?
Will the family ever acknowledge the issues they have with each other? All three characters dealt with traumatic experiences or heartache, but they turn on the T.V. and ignore actually discussing it?
5. Isabelle explains that when she was young, she told her mother that she wanting to learn how to be an “interesting woman” and always kept a journaled list of things to do to make people (probably boys or men) see her as interesting and appealing. Isabelle did not want to be “just a housewife”, but this is both a “me against an individual” (by disagreeing with her mother) and a “me against society” obstacle (by attempting to escape her prescribed role as a mother and homemaker). Isabelle’s tips include speaking quietly, listening well, and ways to pose to make yourself seem more attractive. Isabelle’s desire to avoid being a housewife are complicated when she becomes pregnant with Panny and the father abandons her. She is forced to be a mother when she is just a teenager, and essentially is forced into the role of caregiver with her brother, Lefty. Fate or just the consequences of her actions has become an obstacle to not just being a mother, and Isabelle is essentially manic through most of the play. She refuses to get dressed, she is abrasive to Lefty and Panny, she never leaves the house, and she fantasizes about General MacArthur while watching soap operas.
By the end of the play, after her encounter with the Delivery Guy, Isabelle is a sympathetic character because it seems like society (or, in general, the multiple men that she is around) continue to infantilize her and not take her seriously. The Delivery Guy essentially sleeps with her and then leaves, which most likely mirrors the experience she had earlier with Panny’s father. Isabelle’s desire to be more than just a housewife seems to be an unreachable goal by the end of the play, and comes from a combination of her interactions with men (“me against other individuals”)
6. The most theatrical moment of the play would be Panny’s kidnapping and conversation with The Man, where she tries to assure herself that he wouldn’t kill (and assault?) her because she wasn’t “his type” and did not have blonde hair. She turns to the audience to say that she pressed her thumbs against his eyes and ran away, but Hae-Yoon appears before the audience and explains that this is what Panny wishes she would have been brave enough to do. It’s revealed that Panny is beaten and has “UGLY” carved into her stomach, and she says that she “really wasn’t his type” and that she finally knew she was worthless because The Man “marked” her with it forever. This is also what drives Panny to later have eyelid surgery and blind herself, albeit temporarily. This is the most important scene because Panny eventually succumbs to what some parts of the people around her are telling her. Only when she is on the phone with Hugo does she admit that she did see herself as beautiful, but dismissed this as “stupid”. After she is attacked and has surgery does she seem to be defeated. Her family simply returns to the television and sit in silence.
7. One of the reoccurring images for Lefty in BFE are the Dungeons and Dragons figures that he paints for himself and for Evvie. These figures are the first ways that Lefty and Evvie really bond and show affection, and reveal that Lefty is patient and artistic, but is forced to have a neutral adult job just to support his family. These images also reveal that Lefty, for the most part, is still a child at heart. He and his sister Isabelle were abandoned by their biological parents and essentially raised each other, but he was forced into a “father figure role” to take care of his sister’s “bad decision”. These figures remind me of the conflict in Lefty’s identity. He is forced to create a character that represents what he would want to do as an individual and gives them to the woman that he chooses he wants to be with, but he is forced to subvert these wishes because Isabelle and Panny are his “family” and he cannot abandon them – even though he loves Evvie.
Another image would be the phone and Panny deciding to use it to reveal her true self. Her insecurity (that only mounts when her mother gives her the “gift of plastic surgery”) prevents her from actually connecting with any guys at school, but an accidental phone call pairs her with Hugo. The phone allows for Panny to be herself and find a person who really cares about her other than her uncle. The phone also seems to help Hugo be more himself, visible when he confesses that he has “never liked anyone’s voice” like Panny’s and that he does care for her. He is eager to meet her, but when he finds out that she lied about her age, he leaves. The phone appears again at the very end of the play, but rings until a fade to black. Panny – or anyone else in the house – cares to answer the phone and revert back to their static introspective lives that continued before the play.
One final image could be the character of Hae-Yoon, who serves as Panny’s pen-pal from Korea and is the reminder of Panny’s Asian-American identity that she has to come to terms with. Hae-Yoon gives herself an “American name”, asks if Panny has “blonde hair and blue eyes” and is disappointed when Panny’s picture reveals herself to be “just another Asian” like Hae-Yoon. Hae-Yoon embodies Panny’s underlying assumption that Asian-ness equates to ugliness and that the most appealing person is WASP-y and blonde. Hae-Yoon’s image of America is also superficial and trusting in popular media sources – not what the actual American experience reflects.
8. Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in BFE.
“Coming of age”/”growing up” and the hardships that come with it
9. One of the unique aspects of family that is explored in BFE is the idea of bitterness and regret. Lefty expresses the personal conflict he has because he cares about Panny, but is forced to stall his own romantic and personal life because he has to take care of his sister (and Panny’s mother) Isabel. Lefty eventually has to choose between Panny and his new life with Evvie, when Evvie refuses to re-enter the role of a mother that she just finished. While BFE doesn’t portray the family as “negative”, it does illustrate the often difficult relationships we have with our relatives. BFE focuses more on the relationships that “save” these family members from their negative experience. Panny finds solace in Hugo, Lefty with Evvie, and Isabel with her fantasies and eventually the delivery boy. However, when they fail, they end up relying on each other in the end. The play finishes with Panny completely reliant (for a time) on her mother and uncle to take care of her after her surgery, and with her essentially “blind” until she heals. BFE also confronts the idea that total family reliance is a good thing, and that is visible in the breakdown of Lefty and Isabelle’s relationship. They have spent their entire lives together and Isabelle has always been totally dependent on Lefty, but he becomes frustrated when she tries to accuse him of “abandoning her” when he chooses to spend time with Evvie instead.
2. The intrustion would be Isabel suggesting Panny that she get plastic surgery, which is what drives her to be insecure and what eventually leads her to Hugo. Hugo only connects with Panny when she gives a monologue about feeling “truly beautiful” despite what the world is telling her, and that is why he starts to care for her. Her failed meeting with Hugo ultimately is the reason why Panny is taken by The Man, who marks her as “ugly”.
3. This is the day that Panny decides to tell us what actually happened to her a month ago, when she was “taken” to the desert.
4. State the dramatic question or questions that must be answered by the end of the play? (Ordinarily, the dramatic question shares a close connection with the intrusion.)
5. Isabelle explains that when she was young, she told her mother that she wanting to learn how to be an “interesting woman” and always kept a journaled list of things to do to make people (probably boys or men) see her as interesting and appealing. Isabelle did not want to be “just a housewife”, but this is both a “me against an individual” (by disagreeing with her mother) and a “me against society” obstacle (by attempting to escape her prescribed role as a mother and homemaker). Isabelle’s tips include speaking quietly, listening well, and ways to pose to make yourself seem more attractive. Isabelle’s desire to avoid being a housewife are complicated when she becomes pregnant with Panny and the father abandons her. She is forced to be a mother when she is just a teenager, and essentially is forced into the role of caregiver with her brother, Lefty. Fate or just the consequences of her actions has become an obstacle to not just being a mother, and Isabelle is essentially manic through most of the play. She refuses to get dressed, she is abrasive to Lefty and Panny, she never leaves the house, and she fantasizes about General MacArthur while watching soap operas.
By the end of the play, after her encounter with the Delivery Guy, Isabelle is a sympathetic character because it seems like society (or, in general, the multiple men that she is around) continue to infantilize her and not take her seriously. The Delivery Guy essentially sleeps with her and then leaves, which most likely mirrors the experience she had earlier with Panny’s father. Isabelle’s desire to be more than just a housewife seems to be an unreachable goal by the end of the play, and comes from a combination of her interactions with men (“me against other individuals”)
6. The most theatrical moment of the play would be Panny’s kidnapping and conversation with The Man, where she tries to assure herself that he wouldn’t kill (and assault?) her because she wasn’t “his type” and did not have blonde hair. She turns to the audience to say that she pressed her thumbs against his eyes and ran away, but Hae-Yoon appears before the audience and explains that this is what Panny wishes she would have been brave enough to do. It’s revealed that Panny is beaten and has “UGLY” carved into her stomach, and she says that she “really wasn’t his type” and that she finally knew she was worthless because The Man “marked” her with it forever. This is also what drives Panny to later have eyelid surgery and blind herself, albeit temporarily. This is the most important scene because Panny eventually succumbs to what some parts of the people around her are telling her. Only when she is on the phone with Hugo does she admit that she did see herself as beautiful, but dismissed this as “stupid”. After she is attacked and has surgery does she seem to be defeated. Her family simply returns to the television and sit in silence.
7. One of the reoccurring images for Lefty in BFE are the Dungeons and Dragons figures that he paints for himself and for Evvie. These figures are the first ways that Lefty and Evvie really bond and show affection, and reveal that Lefty is patient and artistic, but is forced to have a neutral adult job just to support his family. These images also reveal that Lefty, for the most part, is still a child at heart. He and his sister Isabelle were abandoned by their biological parents and essentially raised each other, but he was forced into a “father figure role” to take care of his sister’s “bad decision”. These figures remind me of the conflict in Lefty’s identity. He is forced to create a character that represents what he would want to do as an individual and gives them to the woman that he chooses he wants to be with, but he is forced to subvert these wishes because Isabelle and Panny are his “family” and he cannot abandon them – even though he loves Evvie.
Another image would be the phone and Panny deciding to use it to reveal her true self. Her insecurity (that only mounts when her mother gives her the “gift of plastic surgery”) prevents her from actually connecting with any guys at school, but an accidental phone call pairs her with Hugo. The phone allows for Panny to be herself and find a person who really cares about her other than her uncle. The phone also seems to help Hugo be more himself, visible when he confesses that he has “never liked anyone’s voice” like Panny’s and that he does care for her. He is eager to meet her, but when he finds out that she lied about her age, he leaves. The phone appears again at the very end of the play, but rings until a fade to black. Panny – or anyone else in the house – cares to answer the phone and revert back to their static introspective lives that continued before the play.
One final image could be the character of Hae-Yoon, who serves as Panny’s pen-pal from Korea and is the reminder of Panny’s Asian-American identity that she has to come to terms with. Hae-Yoon gives herself an “American name”, asks if Panny has “blonde hair and blue eyes” and is disappointed when Panny’s picture reveals herself to be “just another Asian” like Hae-Yoon. Hae-Yoon embodies Panny’s underlying assumption that Asian-ness equates to ugliness and that the most appealing person is WASP-y and blonde. Hae-Yoon’s image of America is also superficial and trusting in popular media sources – not what the actual American experience reflects.
8. Ordinarily, there are many themes in most plays. List the themes in BFE.
9. One of the unique aspects of family that is explored in BFE is the idea of bitterness and regret. Lefty expresses the personal conflict he has because he cares about Panny, but is forced to stall his own romantic and personal life because he has to take care of his sister (and Panny’s mother) Isabel. Lefty eventually has to choose between Panny and his new life with Evvie, when Evvie refuses to re-enter the role of a mother that she just finished. While BFE doesn’t portray the family as “negative”, it does illustrate the often difficult relationships we have with our relatives. BFE focuses more on the relationships that “save” these family members from their negative experience. Panny finds solace in Hugo, Lefty with Evvie, and Isabel with her fantasies and eventually the delivery boy. However, when they fail, they end up relying on each other in the end. The play finishes with Panny completely reliant (for a time) on her mother and uncle to take care of her after her surgery, and with her essentially “blind” until she heals. BFE also confronts the idea that total family reliance is a good thing, and that is visible in the breakdown of Lefty and Isabelle’s relationship. They have spent their entire lives together and Isabelle has always been totally dependent on Lefty, but he becomes frustrated when she tries to accuse him of “abandoning her” when he chooses to spend time with Evvie instead.